The Newcastle-based choir, Voice of Hope, will give a special performance to start off the BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival, marking this year the centenary of women’s right to vote. The award-winning North East choir will be singing from Sage Gateshead, ‘The Pankhurst Anthem’, on 9th March (Friday). It is the first time it is being broadcast live from Gateshead Quays, as part of the ‘In Tune’ programme of the radio station. Other local choirs and singers are also invited to join in the performance taking place at 5pm. Those who like to join, should first sign up (http://wfly.co/Sx57T), then download the music and later on that day attend at 4pm, a rehearsal.
BBC Radio 3 commissioned the choral work at this 13th annual event, to mark the centenary of the passing of the Representation of the People Act. Lucy Pankhurst composed the Pankhurst Anthem, having words by the writer and women’s rights campaigner, Helen Pankhurst. Helen and Lucy are distant relatives. Helen is great granddaughter of Emmeline Pankhurst, who was a leader of Britain’s suffragette movement and the anthem borrows words from a famous speech delivered (in 1913) at Connecticut by her. Voice of Hope was first founded as a one-off concert that was in fundraising for the British Heart Foundation. It was founded by Simon Fidler, a musical director, who lost his mother of a heart attack.
The festival held every year at Sage Gateshead, is at the weekend, from 9th to 11th March. Nearly a 100 speakers are due at the venue, including broadcaster June Sarpong, one of the BBC series Civilisations presenters – David Olusoga, the historian, novelist Lionel Shriver and Alexei Sayle, the comedian. This year’s BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival includes over 50 events on the theme ‘The One And The Many’, also being addressed by speakers.
The BBC World Service will be broadcasting for the first time its CrowdScience programme from the festival. Other radio programmes to be broadcast from the Sage include Radio 4’s ‘The Life Scientific’ and ‘Start The Week’ and also ‘In Tune’ of Radio 3. The opening keynote address will be by Linda Yueh, the economist, with Royal Northern Sinfonia also performing. Free tickets for the festival from Sage Gateshead are available online at – sageshead.com, or by telephone at 0191-4434661.
